Communication for Development and Social Change Series

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Jan Servaes will be developing this Southbound book series to be published during the next three years. He will serve as the Series Editor.

Communication for Development and Social Change (CfDSC) is the nurturing of knowledge aimed at creating a consensus for action that takes into account the interests, needs and capacities of all concerned. It is thus a social process. Media and ICTs are important tools in achieving this process but their use is not an end in itself. Interpersonal communication must also play a fundamental role.

Media professionals, opinion-shapers and development assistance policy-makers have sought to use communication systems for social mobilization and change, however, a lack of understanding of the complexities interacting between behavioural, societal and cultural factors within communities has more often led to ineffective, or even counterproductive, outcomes.

Experienced practitioners and scholars point to the need for a close study of society and culture in formulating communication strategies. This is particularly urgent among developing countries where a lack of resources, compounded by unfavourable environmental conditions, has rendered the sharing of information difficult and the reaching of consensus problematic.

This series invites manuscripts which address the above processes and dynamics from theoretical, applied, case-based, or general perspectives.

Forthcoming titles in the series

• Tom Hogan, Understanding Micronesia : A Cultural Guide for Researchers and Visitors

• Tim Kennedy, Where the Rivers Meet the Sky: A Collaborative Approach to Participatory Development

• Jan Servaes and Shuang Liu (Eds.), Moving Targets: Mapping the Paths between Communication, Technology and Social Change in Communities

More information about the series is available in the two announcements below which may be downloaded from the links below as PDF documents:

• Call for book proposals and manuscripts

• Guidelines for the preparation of manuscripts